Former F1 world champion Damon Hill has reacted to Lewis Hamilton congratulating his Ferrari team members after the 2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, May 18. Hamilton had a brilliant comeback drive at the iconic Imola Circuit, starting the race from P12 and ultimately finishing P4, just a few seconds behind Oscar Piastri's McLaren in P3.
It had been a disappointing qualifying for the Italian team, as Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton failed to make Q3 and finished P11 and P12 respectively. But despite starting on alternative strategies in the main race, both drivers could carve their way through the field and finish within the top six.
The P4 was a significant result for Hamilton as it was the first time in seven attempts that he finished ahead of Leclerc in a main race; it was also the Brit's best result of the year. In a video posted by Ferrari on their social media platform Instagram, Hamilton could be seen congratulating his team members during the main race on Sunday.
On his Instagram story, 1996 world champion Damon Hill reshared the video and gave a four-word reaction of his own, saying:
"Looked very racy today!"
The Italian team had brought some new parts to the track and used them on Lewis Hamilton's and Charles Leclerc's cars.
Lewis Hamilton dissects 'positive' Imola GP on the weekend
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton stated that he was cautious about the positives that he felt in the SF-25 during the main base on Sunday, as he did not want to jinx the progress made by the team.
Speaking with F1.com, the seven-time F1 world champion said of the performance in Imola:
“I don’t want to jinx it, so for sure, there are lots of positives to take away from today, and we had pace, so we really need to dissect and understand where and why. I did think we would make an improvement this weekend with something we’re trying to fix, and I think there’s more to come, but the setup was really good.
“The car felt pretty mega set-up wise, and the strategists, the team did a fantastic job with strategy calls, with the pit stops, so overall mega job from Ferrari."
Lewis Hamilton's assessment was echoed by Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur, who said:
"The positive side of today was that our pace was strong from start to finish. We had a good strategy, and the pit stops were well executed. Lewis drove a very solid race, always running at a strong pace, pulling off some nice overtakes."
Thanks to 20 points earned during the weekend, Ferrari closed the gap to Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship to 17 points in their fight for P3.